Nigerian militant group says plans to free Chevron hostages soon

SpencerSwartz

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A Nigerian militant group Thursday said it planned to free six Chevron Corp.
CVX, -0.35%
oil workers in coming days, as the group said it would do several weeks ago when it abducted the workers.

"They will be released on (May) 30th. That's definite," the main representative for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an e-mail response to Dow Jones Newswires.

"No attempt was made to secure their release," the representative said, referring to the condition the group made in order for the workers to be released.

The group kidnapped the workers from an offshore facility in Nigeria, where dozens of foreign oil workers have been kidnapped over the past year due to local unrest and militants' demands for some control of oil resources. Nearly all kidnapped oil workers are later released after energy companies pay a ransom.

MEND's representative, who routinely corresponds with the media via e-mail under the name Jomo Gbomo, reiterated that the group plans more attacks on oil installations before Nigeria's new president, Umaru Yar'Adua, takes office Tuesday.

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